


The Side of the Angels

by Jadesfire



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Natasha, Comment Fic, Gen, tv movie titles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-25 09:00:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6188323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jadesfire/pseuds/Jadesfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some instincts are too difficult to deny, and sometimes, Natasha doesn't even try.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Side of the Angels

**Author's Note:**

> Set pre-Age of Ultron. For the prompt: Gone Are The Days.

When you'd been on the side of the angels for long enough, it was easy to kid yourself that it had always been this way. That making the right choices came easily, that your instincts were different now. 

It was hard to hang onto that convenient lie when half your team was down and bleeding. Noises swirled around her as she straightened up, as the building shook, as Bruce and Steve tried to keep Tony calm enough that he didn't bleed to death before Steve could wrench his crushed armour off, as Clint's breathing took on a bubbling, laboured note. She heard Steve hiss in pain, grunt in effort and knew that it was a race between him and Tony as to who'd pass out from blood loss first. Outside, she could hear Thor keeping up his defence, trying to buy them enough time. 

Natasha closed her eyes. None of these were the sounds she was searching for. One by one, she tuned them out, tuning out her fear, tuning out the pounding of her own heart and the rush of blood in her ears. There was nothing to see in the ruined lab, not any more. Those weren't the instincts she needed right now.

There.

Turning slowly, she opened her eyes just enough to see the broken tables, the smashed equipment. A lot of it was sparking and steaming, and she tuned that out as well. Because she'd heard it, somewhere under all the noise and confusion. The sound that didn't fit.

She gave no warning that she was about to move, just launched herself over the fallen equipment, rolling on the other side, kicking out before her feet hit the ground so that her momentum was enough to send the bent lab bench flying. There was a muffled scream as she came to her feet, and she was moving again, pouncing on the man who'd been hiding behind it. They were close up against the cracked wall now, and she kept going as she grabbed him, dragging him up and slamming him against it. A cloud of dust rose up around them.

"Please." The man was was sobbing, trying to get his hands up, trying to fend her off. From not half a meter away, Natasha could feel the cold air blowing in from the broken window. It was a long way down. 

When she brought her gaze back to her prisoner, she could see that he'd had the same thought. His mouth tried to form _please_ again, but nothing came out, the fear catching the word in his throat. 

This place had been a charnel house, one of Strucker's worst. The screams from the cells still echoed in Natasha's ears even as the panicked breathing of her prisoner grew louder. Before, she wouldn't have given it a second thought. He was an enemy, and here was a neat solution that barely involved getting her hands dirty. 

"Tasha?" 

Clint's cough was worse, she could hear that now. They needed to get him and Tony out of here, needed to at least slap a bandage on Steve's shoulder. The self-destruct was too far under way to stop now. The priority should be to get her friends out, and bring the prisoner with them. 

Not taking her eyes off him, Natasha shifted her grip enough that she could get one hand free, touching a control on her wristband. A second later, a light flashed in reply. 

"Time to go," she said. Getting a better hold on his shirt with both hands, she yanked him towards her, pulling him off balance enough that she could swing him towards the window. He began to scream almost at once as she forced him backwards again, using both their bodyweights to propel him through the space where the glass should have been, only letting go at the last second. 

The sound of his cry was ended with a thud, and a second later, Thor swept past the opening, carrying him safely away. Natasha took a deep breath, the instincts that had been screaming at her silenced as she'd done what they'd asked. She let herself tune back into the room, hearing the screech of metal and a wet cough that finally got her moving again. The relief that had come as she'd watched the man fall was something she could deal with another day.

For now, it was time to go.


End file.
